✨Castle Swimmer: Volume 2 collects Episodes 20-41✨

🪸🪼🐋🦑Just the sweetest, most adorable webtoon i continue to fall head over heels for every time i get back to Siren and Kappa's world! Volume 2 was as scrumptious as the first, full of emotion and great art and two darlings i can't get enough of! The tension was high, the sneaky bits were kitten-cute, but then the actual reveal snuck up on me and it had me gasping. I was lulled by pretty mermen with blushing crushes and didn't see it coming. This story was so good with a hint of intense and it just keeps getting better!🦈🦞🐚

🐟🦪🐠And now I've stopped reading the webtoon just so i can be surprised when Volume 3 comes out! All i know is that i love this graphic novel series and i can't wait to see what's next for Siren and Kappa, because they're the absolute cutest together and i hope they get to share the most melty-heart romantic adventures in all the volumes still to come! Loved this!🪸🪼🐋🦑

Thanks to Clarkson Potter/Ten Speed Press and NetGalley for this eARC. Graphics of the characters are nice, but the backgrounds are very limited. Simple and straight forward story. Probably popular for a younger audience.

Thank you NetGalley and Wendy Martin for letting me review Castle Swimmer. I was already following the series on Webtoons, but when I saw that we were getting a physical comic, I knew I had to see it. The formatting from a web comic to a physical copy keeps the story flowing as well.

As the story progresses, we got to see Siren's and Kappa's relationship grow as they come up with a plan to help each other achieve the freedom they want. This volume mainly focuses on building the plot for the remainder of the series as Kappa finally escapes from the castle with the help of Siren.

The art style is also to die for, especially with Kappa's colourful scales, and the funny expressions make it even more worth picking up.

I was super excited to read Castle Swimmer Volume Two after loving Volume One so much and even more excited to get the eARC.
Just as in volume one, the love story between our two main characters is very cute and I loved watching it develop further.
We didn’t see all that much character development from Kappa in this volume, but Siren goes through quite a lot in this one and I loved seeing it.
Plot-wise, I feel like the book dragged on a bit, basically repeating the plot of volume one, with an unsurprising twist at the end, but at least from then on the story progressed. I liked the ending and am looking forward to reading more and watching the characters progress independently of each other.
All in all a good read.

I received an ARC through NetGalley for an honest review.

Unfortunately, this was a DNF @ 35% for me.

I love me some Webtoons and the cute Queer vibes here are adorable, but the script, pacing, story, and art style just weren't my cup of tea.

Clearly I'm in the minority on that and it's a me problem, bur that's the joys and pains of subjectivity.

Oh, I love this series. Like I said in my first review, this has the perfect balance of cuteness and suspense. It's a super funny and adorable read, but there's also a well-developed plot, so it's definitely not just vibes. I hope I'll manage to continue this on Webtoon, because I absolutely adore this.

This may be my favourite part of the Castle Swimmer series. I absolutely love the WEBTOON and I was interested to see how it would translate into a book format, and I was really pleased that it worked!

This part follows Siren as he tries to free Kappa from the sharks. I will always love Siren and Kappa’s relationship and I just absolutely love Queen Nee and Krilli, so I was pleased to see them again, too!

Thank you to Ten Speed Press for the ARC of this book.

Castle Swimmer picks up right where volume 1 left off, with Kappa imprisoned and Prince Siren working to free him. This was full of interesting plot twists and had a nice resolution leaving me guessing as to where things will go next. I especially loved what the neighboring queens brought to the story. This is a fun and quick graphic novel and I look forward to reading volume 3!
Thanks to Ten Speed and NetGalley for the ARC in exchange for my honest review.

Did you grow up with some weird fascination with sirens, mermaids, fish, or any of the above? Fairytales and folklore been your shtick since the release of Shrek? Chosen one destinies get your blood pumping?

Boy oh boy, have I got the series for you.

As I shared in my review of Castle Swimmer, Vol. 1, Kappa and Siren have been my sweet little fish boys since freshman year of college. I remember finally giving in to the Webtoon hype, curling up under a blanket, and coming out of a Castle Swimmer-induced coma a few hours later and being livid because I was fully caught up and deeply invested.

Not much has changed. I still love my precious little fish boys and their story of destiny, royal duty, and young love. I laughed at how silly these two were and fist pumped every time they got a helpful hint for how to thwart the "kill the beacon to save the people" narrative. I always forget how much I love Queen Nee and her shameless antics.

The perfect story to sink into for an afternoon of fun antics and lovable characters.

Castle Swimmer, Vol. 2 raises the stakes with more danger, deeper emotions, and expanding underwater politics. Prince Siren and Kappa are caught in a tightening net as Queen Susca becomes more ruthless, willing to kill Kappa herself if Siren won’t. Their relationship is the emotional core of the story—tender, defiant, and increasingly heart-wrenching as they’re forced to consider impossible choices.

The arrival of neighboring queens adds fresh tension and the possibility of escape, though their true intentions remain murky. The art remains vibrant and expressive, perfectly capturing the emotional highs and lows, and the pacing keeps the story moving quickly. Some developments feel a bit rushed, but the emotional payoff makes up for it.

This volume delivers a powerful mix of romance, rebellion, and sacrifice, and it’s a satisfying next chapter for fans of the first.

Just as good as the first one! I love the Webtoons that get turned into physical books. Thank you for the ARC, I had a blast reading this.

Amazing art to go with an amazing story. I felt transported into this magical world as I read! I loved the characters and their unique personalities portrayed both in how they act and how they look. On that note the character design is out of this world!!!

“When we meet again, let’s change our fate together.”
4☆|5

It always feels wonderful to go back through the pages of this incredible comic, and this was exactly what I needed today. This series is simply so sweet and has such great art!

This volume picks up directly where we stopped in the first one, and if that one was a bit more of a setup, this second volume is filled with action! We open the book, and then it is very hard to put it down, as we end up really invested in what happens to Siren and Kappa. I adored it and the several twists to the story. And as someone who has partially read the webtoon at some points, believe me, it gets even better.

Added to the twists, this volume also offers us the evolution of Kappa and Siren's relationship, and when I tell you that they are absolutely adorable, I believe every word of it. This comic just gets cuter every time I open it, and it's totally because of them and of the fact that they make me giggle. And if the relationship works so well, it's partially because the characterisation of every character is so lovely. I adored all of them, especially the grandmother, whom I found very funny.

Finally, we discover all that with a beautiful art style in a book that has been perfectly adapted from a webtoon. And let me tell you, every aspect of it was a delight. The art is perfect and fits the story really well; the characters are lovely and the plot addictive, it's just what we need after a long day. I would like to thank Netgalley and Ten Speed Graphic for sending me an E-ARC of this lovely book, it goes out on June 3rd.

Castle Swimmer is such a fun graphic novel! The characters are sweet, they have lots of depth, and their romance is completely adorable! The world is also amazing, I love meeting all of the different mer and discovering the lore of this universe. Highly recommend!

As someone who followed this story on WEBTOON, I was excited (and a little nervous) to see how it would transition into a graphic novel—and I'm happy to say it delivers. The humor of the original is still front and center. But what really surprised me is how deeply the story’s emotional layers hit me when framed in the new format.

The pacing feels a bit tighter, which works in its favor. The layout makes the most of the illustrations. Every panel feels like it was crafted with care. Truly beautiful.

While a few jokes may land better in scrolling format, the overall impact is strong. This adaptation gives OG fans something to celebrate and newbies an entry point into a story that’s both lol funny and sneakily heartfelt. I’ll be adding this book to my shelves upon its release.

Till next time.

-Jo

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My rating system:
⭐️
I didn’t like it
⭐️⭐️
It was fine
⭐️⭐️⭐️
I liked it
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
I really liked it
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
I loved it

Absolutely love this series! So cute and fast paced. Has so much heart sprinkled with humor and action. Excited to see where the story goes from here!

As a fan of Castle Swimmer from the beginning of its webtoon days, I knew this was going to be a fun read. The way the comic is read changed from an up and down scroll to turning pages but it still holds its charm. They did a fantastic job reformatting this into a new medium.

Castle Swimmer is a great graphic novel that shares a story of learning to stand up for yourself and to do what's right, regardless of what other people expect you to do. Siren is so caring and loving towards Kappa. The novel does a great job at showing how important his people are to him as well as how much they love him.

Kappa meanwhile is such a sweetheart despite all the challenges he's been through in his life as the beacon.

This graphic novel is packed with a diverse cast of supporting characters who the reader will adore.

Thank you t0 NetGalley and the publisher for providing an Arc of this book. My opinions are my own.

4.5 stars

This was the perfect follow up after volume 1. I loved everything about this. The characters are so funny and cute. I loved the sweet moments between Siren and Kappa. They are absolutely precious and deserve everything. I think my favorite character has to be Skiff. I kind of want him to have his own romance now. He's such a gem.

So awesome! Loads of enjoyment, just like the first volume. I love the facial expressions of the characters, and the romance is cute.

This is book two in the graphic novel adaptation of an original Webtoon series and it is every bit as magical and beautiful as book one. The characters are so incredibly endearing, the plot enthralling and the artistry is just incredible - the glint of Kappa's scales, the detail in each panel, and all the hard work that's gone into adapting something designed for a small screen into a larger format. The relationship between Kappa and Prince Siren is adorable, and takes a fairly big step in this one after the slooooow burn of book one, and for such a sweet book/story it had me so incredibly twisted in knots half the time - there's some pretty intense things a-happening in Siren's home kingdom and it will tug your heartstrings!